The New Kia Stinger Will Purposely Be Louder In America

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Americans want beefier exhaust notes. Kia obliged.

Kia is right now putting the last minute touches on its all-new 2018 Stinger sport sedan, and one of those final touches is a beefier exhaust note. In fact, that louder exhaust, according to CNET in an interview with Kia’s vice president of product planning, Orth Hedrick, is being done specifically for America because, well, America likes its performance cars loud. Hedrick stated the original exhaust note "sounded like a hissing not, like a restriction, something from the seventies." Why’s that?

Because the 2018 Stinger is a global car despite buyers in different countries having different tastes. "As a general rule, Korean consumers don’t appreciate loud exhausts – because they consider it (to be) a bad muffler, (that) someone’s not taking care of their car. It’s not refined," Hedrick said. As for Europe, it has more strict noise regulations so, therefore, quieter cars. But Kia Motors America was determined to do what was necessary to get the Stinger up to par for Americans. CNET learned that Kia’s US office had to convince management in Seoul "to develop a richer exhaust note, a change that involves moving baffles within the muffler to yield less restriction."

Will the result be enough to satisfy US buyers? "It’s like 38 percent of what I would like,” said James Bell, director of corporate communications." Bell was reportedly heavily involved in pushing for "a more vocal engine" from the beginning. Kia is also pushing aftermarket tuners, such as Borla, to go even further with exhaust note enhancements. Aside from very un-Kia like past performance street cred, the 2018 Stinger will also be the loudest car Kia has ever built, in America at least.